I stumbled across one of my Legion magazines that I hadn't read yet.(Its a few months old.) Contained therein was another slamming / damning article about the Ross. To be fair - the most decorated Canadian snipers of the 1st whirl at war, used Ross rifles. And they were both Aboriginals. (Niether were Cree - dang it! Bragging rights n' all that.)

Its a fairly short article, but I'll save it in case anyone wants it.(Wish I had one - just to hangon the wall.)

I remember some old sweats from the 1st twirl at war that had been issued them. One in particular said it was a very good RIFLE..in training. But it was hard to be accurate, when you rolled your head to the left. (In case the bolt flew back into your squash.) When training in Niagara on the Lake the guy beside him on the platform was killed when that happened. He also said that upon arrival in Blighty, they turned in their web kit - right at the docks & were issued proper British web.(Theirs were burned right on site.) Wasn't long afterward they were actually issued LE's.

The boot wasn't always the way.ALOT of guys were killed trying to kick - open the bolt under fire. One of the military leaders actually stated,"sending troops into battle with this rifle is akin to murder...and will no-doubt be addressed as such in the near future." Apparently, the breach was bored @ a different size (or angle?) than what was specified for the .303. when it heated up & expanded, it would close up tighter than a bull's ass @ fly time. Throw in some mud & you've got a real problem.

The Ross Mk.IIIs are fine rifles and I thoroughly enjoy shooting mine. Unfortunately, they are better classed as precision target rifles than military arms.

Their precision machining and close tolerances were not proof against mud and shoddy ammunition. A lack of proper care would obviously not improve matters. They were also too long and heavy for convenient use in trench warfare.

Bolt missassembly? Well, in my view any person who takes a Ross bolt to pieces then ignores the very obvious signs that there is a problem qualifies to make the Darwin Award list. With all the information currently available, now, even more than in the past!

Older post but I wanted to set the record straight. Canada requested the right to manufacture Lee Enfields just after the 2nd Boer War.. Many of the Canadian troops returned with them having originally gone over with Lee Metfords. Britain refused so the government let a contract to Ross to produce rifles for the militia. First ones went to the RCMP who returned them after a short while and went back to their Winchesters. At the beginning of the WW1 the Brits were scrambling to outfit their own troops with LE's and there were none available for the "Colonials". Not to be denied, our troops, with encouragement from commanders, picked up those left in the field by British troops. Finally when supplies caught up to demand a British General ordered that the Canadians be issued LE's. Snipers stayed with the Ross but it required perfectly clean ammunition. The whole issue was wrapped up in politics both domestic and imperial. Deplorable behavior but not the first time soldiers have been let down and by politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists. Won't the last either.

The story didn't end there. The outstanding demand for and somewhat finicky nature of the Lewis LMG prompted the development of a modified Ross designed to fire full automatic. This was the Huot developed by an Canadian engineer of the same name. The war ended before it was adopted although it passed all trials.

Terrylee.. with all do respect. The young men sent into the trenches weren't armourers! But they were expected to clean their Ross. I'm pretty experienced, and took one apart for a friend 20 years ago just to clean it. I didn't feel confident after putting it back together on letting him shoot it. One must ask oneself. If it was a revolutionary design, and so much sought after for snipers during WW1, why did their service end after the mud of Ypes, Flanders and many more battlefields of that conflict while the Enfield carried on? I'm a proud Canadian, but if a design is bad, and proven bad in battle, it's bad.

Somewhere I’ve got a target my Dad shot with his Ross Military Match Rifle in .280 Ross. In 1966 he paid $600 for that rifle, almost 10x what he paid for his unissued complete No.4(T) kit a few years later. It was a rare model, and extremely accurate. He sold the Ross a year later for $830. I wonder what it’s worth now. He had a few other Ross rifles in .303. I wish he had kept one.

If anyone has a .280 Ross, I’ve got a few hundred rounds of Kynoch ammunition for it.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot create polls in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum